US finds 35 bodies in Iraq mass grave*

 From correspondents in Baghdad

June 30, 2007 11:53pm
Article from: Reuters

THE US military said it had uncovered 35 to 40 bodies in a mass grave
south of Falluja, in Iraq's Sunni dominated Anbar province.

A Falluja hospital source said 35 bodies had been retrieved and were
being finger-printed to establish their identity.

The military said the killings were relatively recent and the bodies had
been bound and bore gunshot wounds.

The mass grave was found late yesterday near a place called Ferris,
roughly 35km south of the city of Falluja, after a tip-off from a local,
it said.

The site was cordoned off for closer examination, the military said.

Anbar province to the west of Baghdad was hotbed of the anti-American
Sunni insurgency.

But it has become much calmer in recent months after local tribes turned
against al-Qaeda militants operating on their turf.